Dr. Panda Town: Pet World by Dr. Panda is a fun themed pet addition to the Dr. Panda series of apps featuring Dr. Panda Town. Each area of the app had fun twists and turns and I was able to encourage language. We did this by telling my kids to count, describe what you see, tell me what colors are there while they played as live narration. There are over 30 characters, five action locations, four theme park rides, hidden surprises found by tapping, and full of free play!

What we love…

fun areas for kids to explore and learn about animals with no rules, ability to use language to describe what they were seeing and doing as well as encouraging exploration.

What we’d love to see…

more costumes to dress the animals up in, ability to better take care of animals rather than just a band aid or an IV that runs out in the veterinarian

Summary

Much like other Dr. Panda apps, my kids enjoyed playing with Dr. Panda Town: Pet World – they had so much fun tapping, exploring, hatching new animals and bringing them to other Dr. Panda Town locations.

Our Rating

The Dr. Panda Town: Pet World app features a variety of areas you can visit, note some of these areas are gated and require an in-app purchase (IAP) to be able to access them.

A fun concession stand where you can make water, drinks and other concessions as well as my personal favorite cotton candy which changed colors as you made it. My kids loved that too! There is ice cream, a Ferris wheel, carnival games and other great fun options.

Magic Castle: Be sure to tap on the train which is your gateway to the magic castle! The train brings you further inside the app inside a castle where you can cast spells, dress up and more. There are a variety of props including a throne, books, music, moving animals, a playing harp and more! Don’t wake the sleeping giant!
Enchanted Café: Hatchery (cleverly disguised as a “tea house” where you can find, sort eggs and hatch new pets from eggs by tapping on them and placing the eggs inside a matching color flower. Each time you get a fun new addition to the app!Veterinarian (pet hospital) where you can scan your pets using an x-ray, give your pets a swim, give them procedures, brush them, do minor surgery, examine a heart and lungs and even dress up your favorite Dr. Panda people characters as veterinarians. Outside there is an ambulance and wheelchair to transport your pets to the clinic.Travel station where you can get a passport, have packed bags, see times in different places – I also loved that Dr. Panda showed both NY and Beijing on the clocks and that they would move around in sync. My older son is learning about various time zones and thought this was a fun feature as well as the ability to open luggage. In the next room over there are a variety of animal habitats including a fish tank, various animal food available from a vending machine, collars and other pet habitats. My kids loved putting the dog in for a nap, playing with toys as well as opening and closing all the doors of the habitats. Outside there is a small park compete with the fixings for a birthday party including cake which you make in a muffin pan and sprinkles! Pets and humans could take a swim in the bone shaped pool and have a variety of meals poolside from the concession stand. Furry friends could also play in the mud puddle and then go for a swim to get clean.

One of the great things about Dr. Panda Town apps including Dr. Panda Town: Pet World is that when you buy each individual app you can navigate within the apps using an included map and bring your pets to other Dr. Panda town locations. I loved the variety of objects to touch, explore and play with within the app. My four year old is really into pretend play and enjoyed being a veterinarian and helping the animals as well as adopting new pets. My older son liked the carnival, hatchery and train. Dr. Panda apps have no rules and that made this all the more fun for my kids who could explore each of the individual areas as they wished without having to play a game or move on before they were done. We have all of the other Dr. Panda Town apps and my kids loved bringing the animals on vacation, to the mall and more! They even went shopping at the mall with their new pets in hand!
In terms of improvements, in the vet shop, my son struggled a bit to get the IV to work – I’m not sure if it was meant to just flow water out or if it was supposed to make the pets move around as they felt better. My kids also wanted animal specific items to help them feel better along with a way to clean the fish tank! Using the bandages if you tap on them it makes a bandage, but it won’t let you wrap a leg. My kids also wanted a section where they could dress up their favorite pet, inside the mall are a variety of costumes, but not necessarily ones appropriate for pets. They wanted Halloween or holiday themed costumes or even clothing to depend on the season like a coat.

The app has in-app purchases where you can unlock all three areas for $3.99 USD. The app has no advertising except for their own Dr. Panda games which are protected via a parental gate.

Overall, Dr. Panda Town: Pet World another great add to the Dr. Panda app collection. My kids and I enjoyed playing with it and testing it out. I loved the variety of things you could do within the app as well as all of the various interaction’s kids could do and explore. The first time my four year old played with the app he spent 30 minutes just inside the veterinarian swapping out each character and tapping on things!

Mabot by BellRobot is a modular robot designed to teach coding and uses artificial intelligence. For purposes of the review I tested the Mabot in the starter configuration. Inside the box were a control ball, two drive balls, a battery ball which uses a lithium polymer battery, a color sensing ball and a six port connection ball. It also contained various connectors including a Lego Adapter, USB cable for charging, a disassembly tool, and quick start guide. There is a QR code to scan to install a companion app.

My kids love all things robots – after all we are a tech family and get to test out some fun products.

What we love…

Mabot modular robot was easy to put together and make various creations using plug and play. Used #STEM and #STEAM while encouraging creativity. I also liked the compatibility with Lego Techno.

What we’d love to see…

more straightforward instructions that were easier to find, a way to label each of the various balls with what they do either via colored dots or another method.

Summary

Overall, this is a fun modular robot designed for kids and adults which encourages creativity, #STEM learning and exploration.

Our Rating

As a mom, I liked the fact that the Mabot robot was modular and easy to build. Mabot is recommended for kids six and up – my ten year old enjoyed building one of three suggested Mabot robots using the companion app. We did take a Sharpie marker and labeled each using the first letter of what it did. That made it easier for us to assemble the configuration and test it for review purposes. We put together the Mabot starter robot (which drove!) and then started experimenting with other configurations.

One of the great things was that my son was experimenting with putting different pieces in different ways to see what would happen – the ultimate STEM exploration. Mabot also includes a tool to take apart the modules – we used it both to separate the modules as well as remove the connectors – I suppose we could have pulled apart the modules but wanted to be careful of the pin configuration used within the connectors. Using the two companion apps, Mabot Go and Mabot IDE we were able to experiment with additional coding.

As a mom, I love all toys that encourage my kids’ curiosity. Bonus points if it teaches them something. It was simple to use once I figured out each module and what they did. When we played with it, we used it at the kitchen table so that the pieces didn’t get put somewhere else. Once we identified each of the pieces, building with the companion app was fun and easy. After building the Mabot starter robot we then started experimenting – and loved the various colors that lit up and things that we could see when we used the Bluetooth ball and tried the various levers to program and make it move. It also allows for hot plug and play which allowed us to start, stop, plug and unplug while experimenting without having to power off the Mabot.

In addition, it would be great to have a set of instructions labeling each of the modules included either inside the box or right inside the app. Amazon has an encyclopedia in the user guide listing, although I searched I was unable to find it on Bellrobot’s website. When I used the app, it got stuck because it couldn’t connect to the Bluetooth module – because I put the robot together wrong. Once I figured out my mistake, pulled off the connector pieces and put it together again it worked. This was a bit frustrating for my son, but once we figured it out we made many different robots.

Overall, the Mabot and companion apps are great educational tools that will encourage kids to learn, experiment, be creative and test new concepts. I loved that screentime was not just screentime but because educational learning time.

NOTE: A product was supplied by the company for review purposes, no other form of compensation was received, all opinions stated in the review are those of the author and have been offered honestly.The links in this post may contain affiliate links where The iMums will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on our link, this helps to support the costs of running this site and we appreciate your support.

The app turns every play session into an adventure for young children by letting them build each of the 8 scenes with items (animals and objects) associated with the setting, and interact with them. The characters and items of vocabulary are introduced one at a time and children can activate the item and hear the vocabulary word whenever they tap or move it. In addition to these items, players can also explore around the scene to animate more items and learn their names.

For older kids who are ready to learn the written words, the vocabulary words are presented separately on vocabulary cards, with only the picture and the written word on each card. The learning is focused and targeted to build a strong association between the item, its name, the spelling, and pronunciation. Grouping these words in context also helps learners make the connection between the items.

Children become more familiar with each vocabulary word as they play with them repeatedly, and this app offers great replay value. Each of the 8 play scenes is designed for free play where kids can move items around and activate them. This encourages imaginative play where kids can make up their own stories and explore possibilities. There is a lot of activities to keep kids entertained and engaged. They can have a go at the toy capsule vending machine in the store and label the toys that they get. They can pretend to be a DJ, dance to different genres of music or enjoy the food at a birthday party. They can style the characters from the head to toe with superhero costumes or other outrageous outfits for a photo shoot. They can also learn more about the planets, sea creatures and animals. They even get to try new experiences like controlling a husky ride, making the cloud rain, flying in a hot-air balloon, and walking in space!

What I like about this app is that it helps open the window to the world for our children. It makes them curious about the wider world, beyond what they have been exposed to and want to discover more. It presents lots of opportunities for you to help expand their general knowledge. It is also a great conversation starter as you can relate each scene to yours and your child’s real-life experiences. Credit goes to the developer as well for building an awareness and appreciation for cultural diversity, and social inclusion into the app. Everyone can participate equally regardless of their background and abilities.

There is a parents’ guide (in the parents’ section) on the learning points and what you can talk about with your child during the in-app play. It would be great to also include a list of all the vocabulary words introduced in the app for easy reference. In the settings, you can also change the language (UK/US English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Mandarin) and audio (music, sound effects, and spoken words) preferences.

Above all, the app is just pure fun for the kids. The cute characters, movable interactive play items, variety of activities and engaging free-play settings will keep them coming back for more play and learning

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Plenty of fun and giggles in this "highly recommended" language learning game for kids. Designed especially to introduce your child to learning everyday vocabulary, and with no in-app purchases or third.

NOTE: A fee was received to expedite this review to the top of our waiting list but this payment has not influenced the objectivity of the review and all opinions have been offered honestly.

What we love…

immersive science based exploration better than any other science type app we have recently tested

What we’d love to see…

I would love to see more information for parents when they first launch the app explaining how they can use it with their kids. I would love to see more earth science and a fuller explanation of each of the contents or even a dig in the individual planets.

Summary

This is the best science app covering these topics I have ever tested with my kids!

Our Rating

Tappity Grade K-4 Science for Kids is a subscription based app for iOS that features an immersive experience into a variety of science topics. The app is designed for children from kindergarten through grade four. My preschooler loved the app as well – although he had a shorter attention span. New content is being constantly added and ranges from Oceans to planets to evolution and more. There is even a monthly mystery. Topics are: new content, adventures, space, nature, animals, dinosaurs and mini mysteries. The narration is in native English and is very clear and easy to understand.

The app starts with an adventure you choose – my kids especially liked the space adventure where you traveled through space, landed on the moon, had lunch (broccoli or ice cream) and then even were able to control the weather on Venus. Each adventure is narrated and allows you to touch, explore, hear the narration and impressively learn while using the app without kids knowing it! Navigation is simple, kids tap, twist, orbit and touch arrows when they are done with specific adventures. The app uses actual video footage rather than animated characters or computer animations.

As a mom, I loved the fun facts in each adventure as well as the animations – which felt so real like the coral reef with the fish swimming and more. Kids could also pop up the text at the bottom to read it as well. In the space adventure, watching my kids explore the various orbits and learning about the planets was so much more fun than I remember it being when I learned in a textbook in the classroom. I also appreciated that I knew each lesson would take approximately x number of minutes which gave me time to prep dinner or pack lunches instead of having to worry about my kids mindlessly watching television. The app encourages thinking and problem solving which are both very important in our current school curriculum. It also allows for exploration which means that kids can look around, explore and truly start to understand what they are learning. As a supplement, after we reviewed the space portion of Tappity we went to a local museum that was having a space exhibit – I was amazed at how much my kids remembered! It provided multi-sensory learning with app guides, clear explanations. You can download the adventures so no wi-fi is needed meaning that you can take the adventures with you. The music is fun and catchy. At the end you return home and there is a quick recap of what you learned. It encourages kids to go beyond the app and learn. At the end kids can take a photo to remember their adventure.

In terms of enhancements, I would love to see more information for parents when they first launch the app explaining how they can use it with their kids. I would love to see more earth science and a fuller explanation of each of the contents or even a dig in the individual planets.

The app is paid via in-app purchase via subscription, if you are like me, a lifetime subscription is a good buy! Prices are below and are current as of the time of this review in USD. Plans: $2.99/month, $14.99/year, and $49.99 (lifetime)

Both my boys loved this app and I loved that they were getting educational content and learning about science. They were well engaged and learning as well as retaining the content to be able to explain it. This is the best science app covering these topics I have ever tested with my kids! Perfect for homeschoolers, regular parents and even just curious kids. I can’t wait to test it with my Cub Scouts as well!

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Meet the iMums

The iMums - Amanda, Alison, Mary and Grace - are four mothers from different parts of the world dedicated to informing parents about the best digital stories, educational apps, fun games and technology products available for their children. We also offer the latest news in apps for kids, interesting articles, developer interviews, free apps and regular giveaways! Read more.

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